The present invention is directed to cassette loaders. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a mechanism for threading cassette leader onto an automatic cassette splicer and loader.
With the ever increasing availability to and use by the consumer public of sophisticated electronic devices, pre-recorded audio magnetic tape has become more and more popular. One form in which this tape is commonly supplied is in what has come to be known as an audio cassette. Such audio cassettes are supplied by the manufacturers of same with leader permanently threaded to each reel of the cassette. This leader is continuous and requires cutting at a mid-point thereof and splicing in of either a blank or pre-recorded length of magnetic tape. The cost of manually splicing in a length of magnetic tape is prohibitive from a commercial standpoint. Consequently, machines have been developed to automatically splice and load magnetic tape into such cassettes.
The automatic splicing and loading mechanisms have heretofore required threading by an operator. This is accomplished by the operator placing the cassette on the machine and drawing a loop of the leader from the cassette onto a vacuum track. Once this loop is placed on the track, the machine will automatically complete the splicing and loading operations. Consequently, it has been found economical to have one operator thread and oversee several machines at one time. In this way, the operator may be threading one machine while the remaining machines are continuing through the cycle of splicing and loading tape onto the cassette. Naturally, the more machines the operator can control, the greater the productivity of the operator.
A number of mechanisms are available for such splicing and loading. One example is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,825. As can be seen from FIG. 10, a loop of leader is drawn across a vacuum track to initiate operation. The sequence of splicing and loading of tape once threaded onto such a mechanism is not part of the present invention and disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,825 is incorporated herein by reference to illustrate one such sequence of operation.